$1.9 million in equipment donated to UTSA by Sony

Sony Electronics Inc. has donated nearly $2 million in microchip equipment to The University of Texas at San Antonio.

UTSA will use the equipment from Sony's local facility to develop a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) laboratory at the 1604 Campus where professors and students will research new technologies. The 5,000-square-foot facility is scheduled for February 2005 completion.

MEMS are silicon-based chips that use magnetic fields and temperature variation to conduct signals to operate devices such as inkjet printer heads, microphones, microspeakers, pressure sensors and medical equipment.

"This is a generous and important gift to UTSA," said UTSA President Ricardo Romo. "Partnerships with the corporate community are crucial to creating knowledge in new academic areas and enabling UTSA to become a premier research university."

Romo added that Sony's gift demonstrates a model of corporate support for educational programs throughout the community.

"This gift enables our College of Engineering to conduct research that is not being done by any other university in San Antonio or South Texas. "This is a very important gift for our students and faculty," said UTSA Provost Guy Bailey. "The educational opportunities for our students will be unparalleled."

"This gift from Sony will help put UTSA on the map," said Arturo Ayon, director of the new UTSA microfabrication facility and professor of electrical engineering. "The laboratory will enable us to create many other projects, engage existing faculty and attract new research faculty."

The new technology allows more simplified, efficient and powerful circuitry that will produce increasingly smaller telephones, televisions, image projection and display devices, hard disk drives, supermarket scanners and systems for power generation, water filtration, drug delivery and defense micropropulsion.

Experts predict medical technology advances such as bio-MEMS utilizing DNA chips to analyze blood. MEMS products already on the market include watches, microphones and projectors with micro-mirrors and lasers rather than light bulbs.